The bassoon is a double reed instrument within the woodwind family of instruments. The bassoon relies on a double reed as its vibrational source for musical sounds. Traditionally, the musician blows through the double reed and vibrations are created as the reed opens and closes rapidly. These vibrations travel through the instrument and the musician is able to make musical sounds.
A bassoon reed is traditionally much larger in size than other reeds used in different double reed musical instruments of the woodwind family. For example, an oboe reed is smaller than a bassoon reed and therefore, will not create the same musical sounds as a bassoon. Oboe reeds and bassoon reeds are not compatible as they are two different types of double reeds.
Double reeds have traditionally been constructed from two pieces of cane. The two pieces are dimensionally the same and are bound together by some sort of ligature such as wire or thread. A sealant such as glue is typically applied to make the seal between the two pieces of cane airtight.
Bassoon reeds in the prior art are either constructed entirely of reed cane or are synthetically made of plastic or some other suitable material. Bassoon reeds made of cane are subject to problems. One such problem is that no two pieces of reed cane are alike. Reed cane is not consistent in quality, density, grain configuration or curvature.
These inconsistencies can result in a double reed which does not work properly or which emits a low quality sound which is inconsistent and undesirable.
Synthetic bassoon reeds of the prior art also suffer from certain shortcomings. Examples of these prior art devices are disclosed in the following United States patents: U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,571 (Legere) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,241 (Gamble). Most musicians prefer to use natural reed instead of a reed which has been synthetically manufactured. The synthetic reed manufacturers of the prior art have not been successful in creating a synthetic reed which delivers a high quality and consistent sound, similar to what is experienced with a reed made from reed cane.
It would be desirable to have a bassoon reed which overcomes these problems by being made of reed cane but which has a tubular sleeve inserted into the end of the reed, thereby reducing some of the usual inconsistencies associated with reed cane material while also providing a sound superior to the synthetic and traditional cane reeds in the prior art.
This device meets these needs and overcomes other problems and shortcomings in the prior art with a bassoon reed having a tubular sleeve inserted therein that delivers a highly quality and consistent sound.